Trainer Maher left in shock after owner takes back Tears I Cry

TRAINER Ciaron Maher said yesterday he was shocked and disappointed by the removal of Emirates Stakes winner Tears I Cry from his Winslow stables this week.Maher said part-owner Anne McGrath collected Tears I Cry on Monday in his absence and he learnt the following day she planned to train the horse.``I didn't know anything about it,'' he said. ``She just came and took the horse.``It would have been nice to have a bit of a talk about it.''Tears I Cry gave Maher his greatest racing highlight last spring with a giant-killing win in the $1 million Emirates Stakes (1600m) at Flemington.The six-year-old gelding had 20 starts in his care for six wins and six minor placings, earning more than $700,000 in prizemoney.``I was just grateful to have a horse of that ability early in my career,'' Maher said.``I'm never one to look back though. He was a good horse but I'll just move on to the next one.``I wish them (connections) all the best.''McGrath said the decision to switch trainers was taken in consultation with her husband Eddie and brother-in-law Andrew McGrath, who are part-owners of Tears I Cry.She said it was a difficult process because Maher had a successful record with the horse but it was an amicable one and the pair were still on talking terms.``He's terribly disappointed, there's no two ways about it,'' McGrath said. ``It was a tough decision to take the horse from Ciaron because he's done such a great job.``We've had a few little discussions about it. He's realised that this is what we do (breed and train horses) and this was on the cards.'' McGrath said the opportunity to expand her training interests was created by the sale of the family's 280-hectare dairy farm, although they will continue to run an adjoining 570-hectare beef property.``I have a fair bit of spare time on my hands to do the horses now,'' she said.``I'd like to have four horses racing and I have the young ones coming along.''McGrath has held an owner-trainer's licence since 1991-92 and has bred horses for a similar period, including Tears I Cry from her father Leo's brood mare Cassazione.``I'd like to have four horses racing and I have the young ones coming along.''Tears I Cry will bypass the Cox Plate after his unplaced run in the Underwood Stakes (1800m) to focus on 1600-metre assignments in the group one Toorak Handicap at Caulfield on October 11, followed by the group two Crystal Mile at Moonee Valley on October October 25.McGrath said the prestigious Emirates Stakes was also on the radar if the gelding received a suitable weight under handicap conditions.She is confident in her training abilities, with support and advice from Quinton Scott, Denis Daffy and John Nugent.Maher is tipping a big run from Tears I Cry in the Toorak.``All the work is done with the horse,'' he said.``All they have to do is keep him ticking over the way he is and he should be hard to beat.''